A friend of mine wants me to start going to a gym with her, and I thought it would be a nice idea. I've been needing more exercise in my life and whatnot, and the place is close by to both of us and 24 hours. Anyway, I went in there with her yesterday and it was very crowded and I felt so much anxiety, I am not sure I could ever go back unless it was very very NOT crowded. Does/has this happened to other people who are new to going to gyms? I am not even sure why it bothers me so much, nobody even looked at me, they were all into their own thing and all of that ... I just felt very much like running away and hiding.

_________________[...]then i pooped pink sparkles out of sheer hatred. -allularpunk

What time did you go? Gyms are generally crazy busy in the morning, slightly less busy in the early evening till 7 or 8 and pretty calm when most people are at work (with a little uptick around lunch). Will your schedule let you go during the early afternoon 2 to 4? Or you could go at 10pm as it is 24 hours which will probably also be calm.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

It was between 7:30 and 8. The guy I talked to who gave me the free try-it-out pass thing said it was busy at that time because people like to come in after work. I am just wondering how many people I can tolerate and feel comfortable around, or if I will eventually just get used to it and not care at all. Lately I have been doing the typical 9-5 aside from days I have school, where I get out at 3. I suppose I should just suck it up and try another time, but I'm very nervous now!

_________________[...]then i pooped pink sparkles out of sheer hatred. -allularpunk

I would go on a day you have school and see how you like it and then try again after 8/8:30 on the days you work just until you get into your own zone, and don't care who else is there. I assume you're not doing classes, right?

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I was pretty anxious the first week I started going to the gym, but after that it became just another place I went regularly during my week like school, work, the grocery store, coffee shops, whatever.

Another thing that was making me feel weird was that I wasn't sure if I was doing anything right. Everyone seemed to have their routine and I couldn't figure out what any of the machines were for and felt like an idiot. My gym offered a free personal training session with a membership and that helped me feel less awkward/anxious. A lot of gyms offer the same kind of deal.

Just try going for a few more times and see if you get more comfortable!

I can't stand crowded gyms. They make me anxious too. I just try to work around the peak hours so I'm going during down time. I used to go super early in the AM to avoid the rush, now I work out at my office and most days I try to go at 11am rather than noon.

_________________I like my bagels like I like my men - big and covered with earth balance & nooch. - Bunniee

I used to be so intimidated when I walked in the gym, and still don't like when it's really crowded. My favorite time to go is after work on saturday around 4. No one is ever there, and I learned how to use all the equipment then, which makes me more comfortable now.

I haaate to go to the gym after work because of the crowdedness issue. I typically go in the morning before work, and there are about 7 people there, most of them elderly. This has been the case at all of the gyms I've ever gone to.

yeah, I really hate my gym when it's crowded too. I usually use the weight area and I get so annoyed when there's all these personal trainers taking their clients around on circuits and get all huffy when i need to use stuff. If I go during the week I actually usually just go home first then come back around 7:30-8, and weekends are awesome and empty, I love it then.

_________________"If I were M. de la Viandeviande, I would now write a thirteen page post about how you have to have free will to be vegan, but modern science does not suggest any evidence for free will, therefore it is impossible to be vegan." -mumbles

I get the same way because I really don't know how to work out properly and always feel like people are watching me...probably because I tend to watch other people. Even when I have a trainer showing me what to do, I still feel dumb, like I don't belong there or something.

I feel awkward learning to use new (to me) equipment, but it's only temporary. Later you realize everyone in the gym is doing some bizarre routine they made up, so it's ok to act like that too. Crowds & full parking lots always sucks, though. Mornings or after 7p are when it's comfortable.

Rubella, I don't know what our school's gym is like, but have you ever tried or thought about trying that? Seems like it has the potential to be not very crowded since it's exclusively for a bunch of art kids, there's not a great likelihood of there being any kind of after work rush, and it's free(...ish)!

I had a 3 month non commitment last summer. Paid up front. Went 3 or 4 times mainly for the pool. People cut in front of me when lanes cleared. I was afraid to ask to share a lane. I never went back.

In past experience I have found some people very kind and others down right nasty. I had someone make a comment about my white legs. Nice of some male to harass a female. I may be done with the gym. I love the water though.

I know how that feels. When I first started going, I was so self conscious and I always felt like I was being watched. Now I realize that is SO not the case! People are so wrapped up in themselves at the gym, they really don't care what other people are doing or what they look like.

My advice is to initially go when it isn't crowded (in the middle of the day, after 8 pm, or on the weekends) and wear something you feel comfortable and cute in.

The great thing about exercising too is that after doing it for a while, you start feeling so good about yourself that you build up your self confidence. After having that, working out at the gym isn't really much of an issue. Finding the right gym is also important. There are some gyms out there that are only for women that some people feel more comfortable in.

i hate going to the gym when its busy. i feel like everyone is looking at me and im doing everything wrong. but i go after work, at two or three in the morning, or during the afternoon, its usually pretty empty. sundays are good too, at least where i live, i went last week as the oscars were beginning and i was there with three other people.